2025-03-11 17:05:01Power and Cost
The moment my fist connected, I felt it. Something shifted. The impact wasn’t just physical—it carried weight, a raw force beyond my own. The air around us crackled as if the world itself had registered what just happened. The operative staggered—not much, but enough. His expression, once amused and condescending, flickered with something new. Surprise. He touched his jaw where I had struck him. His fingers brushed over his skin, testing. "Interesting," he muttered. Then he moved. Faster than before. I barely dodged. His fist sliced through the space where my head had been a second before. The wind of his strike was sharp enough to sting my skin. Too close. The system pulsed in my vision. [Energy Consumption: 70%] I pushed the warning aside. Didn’t have time for it. I lunged, fists aiming for his ribs, but he twisted at the last second. My knuckles met empty air. Damn it, he was adapting. Before I could register my miss, his knee shot toward my gut. I blocked, but the impact still rattled through my arms, sending a shockwave through my bones. My teeth gritted from the pain, but I held my ground. Then I swung back. A feint. My right fist aimed for his ribs—but at the last second, I twisted, my left elbow shooting toward his face instead. He didn’t expect it. Crack. My elbow struck his jaw. He stumbled—not much, but enough. For the first time, his smirk faltered. I didn’t let up. I launched forward, pouring everything into my next strike. My first cut through the air— And stopped. His hand caught it. Like it was nothing. My breath hitched. His grip was tight. Like steel wrapped around my wrist. The pressure increased, pain flaring through my bones. Then he twisted. I grunted as my body spun with the motion. I had no choice—I had to follow or risk my wrist snapping. The moment my feet hit the ground, I braced for his attack. It didn’t come. He just stood there, still holding my wrist, head tilted slightly—observing. Then, his smirk returned. "Let’s see how much more you can take." A warning. No—an invitation. The system flared. [Energy Consumption: 85%] Too much. My breath was heavier now, and my body was running hotter. My heartbeat thundered in my ears. Every fiber of me screamed that I was reaching my limit. But I refused to go down first. I gritted my teeth, channeling whatever strength I had left, and yanked my wrist free. The second I did, I ducked, just as his other hand shot toward me. Barely. I spun low, kicking out at his legs. He jumped. Damn. Before I could move, he countered. His foot met my chest. The force exploded through me. I was airborne before I even registered it. My back slammed into the far wall, my lungs emptying in a single, choking gasp. I couldn’t breathe. Pain radiated from my ribs, my vision blurred at the edges. My fingers twitched, trying to push myself up, but my body felt unresponsive. The operative sighed, walking toward me. "You’re burning through your energy too quickly. Relying on power without control." His steps were measured, unhurried. Because he knew. He was winning. "Raw strength means nothing if you can’t last," he continued, his voice almost bored. "And you? You won’t last." The system blared again. [Energy Consumption: 95%] My limbs trembled. My heartbeat was uneven, a wild, frantic rhythm. I needed a plan. Now. But my mind was fogged with exhaustion, my thoughts sluggish. The operative stopped a few feet away, arms crossed, studying me like I was a puzzle he was figuring out. "One last chance, Caden." His voice was smooth, but beneath it was something cold. Final. "Show me something worth my time." The words sent a fresh wave of anger through me. Show him? I was done performing for him. I clenched my fists. No more. I focused, pushing through the exhaustion, reaching for something deeper. The power inside me wasn’t gone. It was still there—just buried under the weight of my body failing. I had to dig deeper. My breath steadied. The system flickered. [Emergency Override Available] I inhaled sharply. My chest burned, but I felt it. A second wind, a spark waiting to ignite. I met his gaze. And I smirked. "You want something worth your time?" I exhaled slowly. The energy inside me shifted. The lights overhead dimmed, and the air around me thickened. The operative’s eyes narrowed. Good. "Then don’t blink," I said. Because this time—I wasn’t holding back.
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THE RISE OF THE SYSTEM OVERLORD CHAPTER 11
A Dance with DeathThe moment I sensed the presence, I knew something was wrong.Too quiet.Too still.Then—the attack came.A whisper of movement. A blur of silver.I twisted, barely avoiding the blade as it whizzed past my face. The knife embedded itself into the wall an inch from my skull.I didn’t get a chance to breathe. A second blade was already flying toward me.I dropped low, rolling across the ground as it slammed into the metal floor, sparks flickering on impact.I spun to my feet—but she was already there.A woman, moving like a shadow, stepped into the dim emergency lights with a predatory grace. A sleek black combat suit hugged her athletic frame, the dark fabric shifting with every calculated step.But it was her eyes that stopped me cold.A deep, piercing violet—glowing faintly in the low light.Sharp. Dangerous. Unwavering.She wasn’t just here to fight.She was here to kill."Caden Kelly," she murmured, voice like silk laced with poison. "You're more trouble than I e
THE RISE OF THE SYSTEM OVERLORD CHAPTER 12
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THE RISE OF THE SYSTEM OVERLORD CHAPTER 13
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Bonds and BetrayalsLyra was everywhere—and nowhere.For days, she didn’t attack again. But she didn’t leave, either.I felt her presence in the shadows, lingering just beyond my reach, watching. Waiting. The air around me crackled with tension, an invisible wire pulled tight between us.She was in the whispers of the wind against the windows. In the reflection of a passing figure that never fully materialized. In the soft creak of a floorboard where no one stood.The system refused to give me more information about whatever had linked us. I tried bypassing firewalls, running deep scans, and cross-checking every database I had access to. Nothing. Every time I came close to an answer, something pushed back. Hard.This wasn’t just encryption. This was interference.Someone didn’t want me to know the truth.And that meant I had to find it.A Hunter in the DarkOn the fourth night, I was in the training room, pushing my body past exhaustion. Sweat dripped down my spine, muscles burning fr
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The Truth Beneath the SurfaceThe keycard burned against my palm. Small. Harmless. But I knew better.Lyra didn’t do anything without reason. And if she had given me this—knowing what it could mean—then it was more than just an escape route. It was a message.I didn’t go back to my room. Didn’t go anywhere predictable. Instead, I moved like a ghost through the corridors, keeping to the shadows, listening for footsteps that never came. The facility was quiet, almost too quiet. As if the whole damn place was holding its breath.I found an unused operations room. The screens flickered as I booted up the system, fingers flying across the keyboard. The keycard’s chip held encrypted access, leading me deeper than I should’ve been able to go.And then—The screen changed.A hidden terminal.Obsidian Heitt’s network.The hair on the back of my neck rose. This wasn’t a normal database. This was buried deep. Mean
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CHAPTER 40
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CHAPTER 39
The ChaseThe ground shuddered beneath me, a deep, violent tremor that sent jagged cracks racing through the canyon floor. The system wasn’t just attacking—I could feel it erasing this place, wiping every trace of the Forbidden Archive from existence.I ran.The collapsing tunnels groaned as the walls caved inward, choking the air with dust and heat. Sparks rained down like falling stars, flames licking at the shadows, turning them to molten gold. My lungs burned, every breath ragged with smoke and adrenaline.Move. Don’t think. Just move.The exit was still ahead—if I could reach the surface, I had a chance. If I hesitated, I’d be buried along with the truth. My legs screamed, muscles tearing with the effort, but I pushed harder. The corridor split ahead—left or right? I barely had time to decide before a surge of energy slammed into the wall beside me.The explosion sent me flying.I hit the ground hard, rolling until I came to a stop against a broken column. Everything spun. The he
CHAPTER 38
The System’s LiesThe chamber flickered to life around me. The walls pulsed, and golden data streams wove through the air, forming images—no, memories—so vivid they felt real.A battlefield stretched before me. The ground was scorched, littered with bodies. Smoke coiled into the sky, thick and suffocating. And in the middle of it all stood them.The anomalies.They weren’t the monsters the system had made them out to be. They weren’t destroyers, weren’t threats to civilization. They were people. People with abilities that defied the system’s design. And for that, they had been hunted.A line of towering figures loomed in the distance—cold, mechanical, ruthless. The system’s enforcers. Their armor gleamed under a crimson sky, their weapons humming with barely restrained energy. No mercy. No hesitation.Then, the slaughter began.I watched as the anomalies fought back, their abilities twisting reality itself. Fire and lightning danced at their fingertips, the ground cracked beneath thei
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The Forbidden ArchiveThe canyon stretched before me, a jagged scar in the earth carved by time and secrets. The air was dry, thick with the taste of dust, but beneath it, something else pulsed. Something old. Something waiting.The Forbidden Archive.It wasn’t supposed to exist. Every record of it had been erased, every trace buried beneath centuries of silence. And yet, here it stood—a colossal structure wedged between the towering cliffs, its dark stone shimmering with unseen energy.Two obelisks flanked the entrance, each covered in shifting runes that pulsed like living veins. The symbols twisted and re-formed as I approached as if they recognized me. Or worse, expected me.A whisper of movement.I stopped, my muscles tensing. A shadow peeled away from the entrance, stepping into view. The figure was tall, draped in a crimson cloak that billowed despite the still air. The hood obscured their face, but I could feel their gaze piercing through the fabric, measuring me, weighing my
CHAPTER 36
Understanding the PowerDarkness clung to the chamber like a second skin, thick and suffocating. I sat cross-legged on the cold stone floor, my hands resting on my knees, palms up, trying—desperately—to still the storm raging inside me. My power wasn’t just something I wielded. It was something that wanted to wield me.The flickering torches cast distorted shadows against the walls, as if they, too, were uncertain of what they were becoming. The energy inside me coiled, alive, eager. It burned beneath my skin, pulsed through my veins, whispered in my mind.Control it, I told myself.But it laughed.Not aloud—no, that would be easy to fight. The real battle was more insidious, more intimate. It was the whisper that slithered through my thoughts, the weight pressing against my ribs, the hunger lurking beneath my every breath."You crave it," the voice inside me murmured. "You always have."I shut my eyes tighter. My pulse hammered in my ears."No," I breathed. "That’s not me.""But it i
CHAPTER 35
The Hunter Becomes the HuntedThe neon lights flicker above me, casting long, distorted shadows against the rain-slicked pavement. The undercity breathes in short, sharp bursts—the hum of generators, the distant shouts of drunken gamblers, the occasional echo of a gunshot deeper in the slums. I keep my hood low, my face hidden beneath the dim glow of passing advertisements.Every step I take feels measured, deliberate. The bounty on my head has tripled overnight, and now the city itself is hunting me. Every set of eyes lingering too long could belong to a mercenary weighing their chances. Every whispered conversation could be about me.I pass a group of thugs loitering near a broken-down hovercraft, their voices dropping as I move past. One of them, a brute with cybernetic arms and an ego too large for his own good, sneers.“Dead man walking.”I don’t break stride. I don’t react. That’s exactly what they want—a sign of weakness, a flicker of fear. But fear has no place here. Not anymo
CHAPTER 34
Unintended ConsequencesThe battlefield was silent, but not with peace—only with death.Smoke curled from the wreckage, twisting in the cold wind. The ground was littered with bodies, some still twitching, others unnervingly still. Sparks spat from broken ships, their engines gutted, the metal carcasses groaning under their own weight. The acrid scent of burning wires and blood coated the air, thick enough to taste.I stood in the center of it all, my hands slick with something warm. My breath came steady, controlled. Too controlled. I should have felt something—guilt, regret, even relief—but instead, there was just… nothing.My fingers curled into fists, but the emptiness didn’t go away. I looked down at the nearest body, a man barely older than me, his helmet cracked open, his chest rising in weak, ragged jerks. His mouth twisted as if trying to form words, but all that came out was a broken cough.I knelt beside him, my face unreadable even to myself. "You’re dying."His bloodstain
CHAPTER 33
The Battle EscalatesThe sky darkened, thick clouds rolling in like an omen.From above, the air rippled as ships descended in eerie silence. Their hulls reflected the ruined cityscape, bending light like a mirage, making them appear almost invisible. Not the usual loud, flashing entrances of military dropships—no, these were hunters. They didn’t announce their arrival. They didn’t need to.I wiped the blood from my mouth with the back of my hand, the metallic taste grounding me. My muscles burned, my ribs ached, but the real problem wasn’t pain. It was numbers.Too many. More than before.They moved with precision, forming a tight, deliberate circle around me, closing off every possible escape route. No wasted motion. No hesitation. They had done this before.One way in. No way out.A familiar figure stepped forward—the bounty hunter I had fought earlier. His mask was cracked from our last encounter, revealing part of his face. A jagged scar ran down his cheek, an old wound, but the
CHAPTER 32
First BloodThe city was dead.Ruins stretched as far as I could see, the skeletal remains of skyscrapers jutting into the sky like broken ribs. Shadows pooled in the cracks of shattered streets, their silence heavier than the wind howling through the wreckage. Everything smelled of rust and decay—of something old, abandoned, forgotten.I moved carefully, every step deliberate. The air was too still, too watchful. My skin prickled with unease, a familiar warning curling in my gut. Something was wrong.I wasn’t alone.The feeling slithered down my spine like ice. I’d learned to trust my instincts, and right now, they were screaming. The city was supposed to be empty, but I could feel the presence lingering just beyond sight.A vibration rippled through the ground beneath my boots. Subtle, but there. A footstep? A shift in weight? My pulse quickened as I scanned the ruins.Nothing.But I knew better.A voice cut through the silence, smooth and taunting. “You don’t know what you are, do
